Homicides stay on slower pace in Indianapolis 1.4.11

City credits policing, technology, community help
INDIANAPOLIS STAR

City leaders credit sophisticated crime analysis, targeted policing, dogged legwork and community cooperation with keeping homicides in Indianapolis at their lowest levels in recent history.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department preliminarily recorded 100 criminal homicides in 2010, one more than in 2009, when the city recorded a 16-year low.
"Our officers and analysts have been very aggressive in making use of crime analysis, mapping and picking out crime hot spots," said Public Safety Director Frank Straub. "Each week our district commanders get a new analysis of where they should put their officers."
But crime experts said policing is likely only part of the explanation; Indianapolis, like many other cities, is simply riding a national crest in violent-crime reduction.
"Murder is down in the United States and has been for a number of years," said Brian Royer, a criminologist at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. "I guess it looks real good if you compare Indianapolis to Indianapolis, but a lot of other places are declining, too."
Despite the city's two-year dip in homicides -- previous years more typically saw about 120 homicides -- it fared slightly worse than other cities its size in 2009. And that seems likely to be the case again in 2010 when the final numbers are in.
Why? Because crime is falling elsewhere, too.
Homicides here were committed at a rate of 12.3 per 100,000 residents in each of the past two years, compared with the 11.4 average rate for midsized cities in 2009, according to the FBI.
The FBI reported that homicides declined 9 percent nationwide from 2005 to the end of 2009 and continued to drop in the first half of 2010.
Experts said the demise of the crack trade, determinate prison sentencing, the dismantling of powerful gangs and an aging population have all factored into the decline.
"A major reason that homicides have fallen is because they were so high in many cities that they had to come down," said James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston. "For that same reason, I think there is a good potential for another cyclical increase."
But he said they wouldn't be the drastic rises of the early and mid-1990s, when many cities set homicide records during crack cocaine wars.
"The population is aging," Fox said. "Many of these murders were done by males under 25 years old -- many of them are locked up."
Straub acknowledged the city was following a national trend but said much of the trend is because of sophisticated crime-fighting tools.
"There's better use of technology," he said, "and more cooperation between local and federal agencies."
IMPD Deputy Chief William Benjamin cited another factor that could have a lasting effect on the homicide rate.
"We arrested five individuals this year we believe were responsible for several past homicides and would likely commit more in the future," Benjamin said. "That helps to get a lot of trouble off the street."
Police officials also said that major crimes of all kinds are down 5 percent, with the biggest declines in robbery (19 percent) and business burglaries (17 percent).
Mayor Greg Ballard, who ran for mayor on a platform of crime-fighting, said the city can reduce homicides even more. He noted that in 2010 there were an unusually high number of homicides in January, February and March.
"I think we can do better, actually," Ballard said. "We had a rough start last year. The bigger picture is that the average . . . was in the 120 range for the better part of 16 years. The last two years have been dramatically lower than any other year in a long, long time."
The homicides were spread across much of Indianapolis with clusters in some areas, though there were no homicides recorded Downtown. Across Marion County, there were 114 homicides in 2010; that includes homicides in areas not policed by IMPD and also homicides in which police determined there was no crime, such as a police-involved shooting or self-defense.
Still, in some neighborhoods, the sounds of gunfire and sirens remain all too common.
Tim McCall runs a community watchdog organization on the Near Westside in a neighborhood where four homicides were committed in 2010.
"Last year was a bad year; the police were out here a lot," said McCall, who lives in the 100 block of North Warman Avenue. "We've had more home invasions and car break-ins than we usually do."
He said the increase in crime over the 27 years he's lived there has corresponded with an increase in shoddy housing.
"Landlords aren't taking care of their property," he said. "Things go downhill from there."
Beverly Combs, of the Devington neighborhood on the Northeastside, said there is a lot more suspicious activity than when she moved in 30 years ago. The neighborhood, near 46th Street and Emerson Avenue, recorded four killings last year.
"It used to be you could sit out on the porch late into the night," said Combs, a member of Devington Study Circle Action Team, which tries to improve the area. "Now there is so much activity around here, day and night. You still see people walking their dog, but there is a different feel to it."
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